Goals for May

 Took this start of May week off. A little burned out, too much red. Needed time off. 

Lots of things happened this past week and a half. More housework, getting a new patio. The process of house improvement never stops, but I will say the past almost 2 years now of going about this has really taught me a lot about home improvement and what to expect. Funnily enough you can consider it the same as trading expectation wise. Double the amount you think itll cost, double the amount of time you think itll take. Funny how you meet random people online and these connections seem to happen at the perfect time. Saving tons of money and time by skipping Home Depot and Lowes, and sticking with/ taking a chance on, the guy you just meet through Facebook that says he can do it. 

I joined Smash the Bids group. Thought they would be a good group to join and get some more knowledge out of. They trade options, I listened to several of his interviews on YouTube with various interviewers, seemed like a good place for me to get out of this plateau im in now. Ive been struggling lately, feeling a bit lost.

Part of it is my non compliance which is the red flag that I need to stop trading for a bit, another part is my edge simply is not working in the markets right now. Breakouts in Tech/Retail/Internet names are the fast movers and are flat out not working 90% of the time. So that makes me look more into defensive name breakouts. Which do work, not as much as id like, but also they are not fast by any means. Which means they arent day tradable unless im using stock, which im not anymore. So I am forced to change my approach to strictly swinging those names. 

This is all still new to me. Im still in this phase in my career where I am following the market and respecting what the market is doing, rather than doing what I want to in the market. Good in the long run, but its also the 1st time im really paying attention to conditions around here, recognizing that things are changing and I have to adapt. Which means I need better plans. Which is why I joined Smashs group to see if I can get a grip on these better plans and new ideas. 

And once again I am reminded that I am the most important variable in my trading, and things that make sense to me will forever be the most important aspects of building my process on how I want to navigate the markets.

Im not saying Smashs content wasnt worth it, but I am saying it still doesnt make sense to me to apply it to my trading yet. What works for one, will not work for another. Im still working my way through the videos and I have picked up some good nuggets along the way. Nothing ground breaking for me yet, and I dont think I should expect anything ground breaking. Lots and lots of video footage to dig through to find more things. 

The best way to trade will always be to trade the way that makes sense to you. Its not like im completely clueless. I have my reasons why my trading isnt making me money at the moment. Compliance. Edge. Conditions. Just trying to remain open minded and think outside the box. 

So bringing it back. What happened in April.

Started off really nice. A few good trades put me up 1.6k to start the month. And straight downhill from there. Markets looked like they were heating up again, indices turning up, new ATH, thinking Tech can come back and we continue our uptrend and mega breakouts. Nope. Things still getting stuffed left and right. It was really hard for me to accept that. SPY and QQQ and ATH yet names that seems like they should still make good moves, wouldnt. Very frustrating past couple weeks. Only hurt myself more by breaking rules. Again worst trades were on names I held over night that never were solid wins. Gapped lower against me AND dumped straight at open. Big losses. 

Still having risk issues. Did much better at following plan though. Not respecting my new risk rule of accounting for more space. Theres been a hard balance for me to get past. In regards to trading weeklies vs monthlies. Weeklies kill you when they go against you. Opposite end they are great when they move in your favor. Comparing to monthlies, its much easier to predict just how far against you they will be when youre wrong. So theres some wiggle room here im still trying to figure out.

I want to day trade. I like trading aggressive, taking the breaks, saving best risk for best setups, waiting for pullback and then pulling the trigger harder, pressing on the gas.

I also want to swing trade. Enter in and forget it. I believe its possible for me to have a method of doing both of these at the same time. I want to swing the day trades that work.

In other cases, such as the slower names I want to swing. If I cant day trade them, I have no business using weeklies on them, even if they are available to trade. Those strictly have to be monthlies with a much wider stop. I cant expect to be a successful swing trader, if I cant use swing trade stops. Using day trade stops on a swing trade just means im going to be getting out on noise. I have missed a lot of good Utility/Real Estate swings because my expectations/management/stop placement was off. 

I dont have a problem continuing to look for the same setups I usually do. Looking for A+ breakouts. But in this market I REALLY have to make sure im being super selective. A+ only. No mediocre breakouts with several variables in favor, we need a lot more and intraday Tape + Vol to confirm.

A thing I want to do this month, Is if the breakout doesnt work. I want to swing it the opposite direction. These names that fail and get stuffed on breakout day, usually end up running lower a couple days after wards. I have no problem scalping the breakdowns on the failure, holding til trend is broken. 

Selection/Risk/Management. Still working on getting better at all 3. Management a bit off this month too towards the end. Part of it came from looking at too many things at once, unable to leave stock with a win, let is come back to 0 or negative. Selection will be good as I am coming back in with fresh mindset ready to roll. Risk again is determined before the open on names im watching. No room for discretion. 

I dont need to abandons what has been working for me just because it isnt working that well right now. I do however, need to be more selective, save my highest risk for my best setups. Follow my add process. Manage my risk by not being too big to start, and choosing right position size based on what my risk will be when I am wrong. Take my winners as I have them and keep my winning trades. If I have to scalp more then so be it. I have rules in place that allow me to do just that. 

Just gotta keep grinding. It isnt the end of the world that my edge isnt working everyday. Adapt and overcome. Solutions are implemented, new ideas to toy with. Adapt or blow up. 

GOALS

-Swing trades on slow/defensive names only. Unless is a high vol name.

-Swing trade have a swing trade stop placement.

    -LOD break mid day/close under BO/important level

    -Run to Zero? 

-Day trades can use weeklies, but must do better job at setting expectations on risk. Determined before market open on all names on watchlist. 

-Failed breakout?

    -Buy puts on LOD break, targeting D levels/MAs, stop at HOD / significant intraday pivot.

-Restart Daily/Weekly Reviews

    -Doesnt have to be huge time sink. Just good recap of day. What worked, what didn't, compliance, good trades bad trades.